


Drawn Together

by kitaakes



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Drawing, Fluff, M/M, some character study bc every goro fic i have has to have it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:48:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28187163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitaakes/pseuds/kitaakes
Summary: Yusuke asks to make a portrait of Goro.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Kitagawa Yusuke
Comments: 3
Kudos: 31





	Drawn Together

**Author's Note:**

  * For [exbeekeeper](https://archiveofourown.org/users/exbeekeeper/gifts).



> This is a Persona Secret Santa 2020 gift for my lovely friend Soma, based (in part) on the anthology comic that brought us together. I hope you like it!

Goro finds himself drawn to Yusuke Kitagawa, and he’s confused by it.

He’s not sure why the two of them end up in the same place so often together - some odd coincidences, some on purpose. Their interactions usually follow some basic format - a short argument, an odd conversation, a line of questioning that would dizzy anyone but them. They could play foil to one another for hours and still have more to say on the matter.

All of it makes him feel incredibly strange in a way that he can’t exactly place as rivalry or hatred or even ambiguity. He occupies entirely too much space in his head, and there’s not even a distinct reason for it. At the end of the day, Goro is just…  _ perplexed, _ by Yusuke. 

He’s spent his whole life learning to lie in ways that help him, outsmarting every adult in the room just to survive, cloaking himself to the point where he’s almost not sure of who he really is anymore. Deception isn’t second nature to him - it’s his first. 

Perhaps that’s why he finds it so jarring when Yusuke will openly admit to anything on his mind, even if other people could possibly find it odd (or even upsetting). 

Part of him despises that honestly. Part of him admires it.

The next one on one meeting between the two of them occurs outside, when they’ve agreed to meet in Inokashira park. Yusuke had needed a model for one of his Kosei assignments, and he’d volunteered. He’s trying to get closer to the thieves, after all, and what better way to do that than to help them when it isn’t needed?

They walk around the park for a time, Yusuke owlishly looking around for any place that could fit his needs. Goro thinks all of them look about the same, but he’s sure Yusuke takes more into account - the way the light reflects off the water, or how it filters through the trees, or anything else an artist’s eyes would capture. 

“Is there anything in particular you’re looking for?”

“I would prefer something that brings out your natural beauty.”

Goro’s mind almost short-circuits at that.  _ Natural beauty…  _ It’s not a term anyone had used to describe his looks before. More often than not, he felt as if he was some kind of construct, carefully built to appeal to the most people possible. 

The idea that Yusuke would be interested in something beyond that makes him feel a range of emotions he’s not quite prepared for. How can Yusuke just  _ say  _ things like that, as if they’re obvious facts and nothing else?

Eventually Yusuke settles on a bench near the pond. He puts pen to paper, and Goro takes this as his cue to turn on that trademark Detective Prince smile of his. The artifice of it comes naturally to him, far more so than sincerity. 

There’s a look of concentration, and then a frown quirks onto Yusuke’s face. Goro can’t help but cock his head a little. “Is something wrong? I can change my expression and pose if needed, of course.” 

He doesn’t stop sketching, his head turned downwards as he speaks, his eyes occasionally darting up before returning to the page. 

“I can never capture a smile on your face. When I try to picture it, it slips from my grasp.”

“Do you need me to alter it?” He immediately configures himself to look even more saccharine than before, but Yusuke only furrows his brow. 

Yusuke shakes his head, still clearly unsatisfied. “Your expression doesn’t seem correct this way.”

“What?”

“It’s unfitting… you seem as if your face is being pulled against your will when you smile like that. Would you be willing to try something that comes more naturally to you?”   
  


“You certainly have quite the eye, Kitagawa-san.” He can’t help but let a little bit of displeasure slip into his voice, unnerved at being caught so easily by Yusuke when few others could. 

Somehow, Yusuke always seems to be able to pull unwilling truths out of Goro. When he’s around, they tend to be easy to talk about. It makes him feel absolutely unnerved. He doesn’t like letting his guard down - and around Yusuke, it seems as if there’s none at all. 

Nonetheless, he allows himself to let his expression go flat, if not slightly downturned, and the effect on Yusuke is almost immediate. Pencil goes to paper once again, and soon enough he’s caught up in his art. 

He can hear Yusuke whispering to himself as he draws: “How invigorating…”

“It’s rather plain, in my opinion, but if it’s what satisfies you…” He tries to shrug it off and maintain his usual cool demeanor, but Goro feels disarmed, left without the protection that his deception typically affords him.

“I think you appear more interesting without disguises.” Once again, he’s self-assured. 

Goro’s expression turns to one of bemusement. “Interesting?”

“Your expression intrigues me. You have a certain charm when you allow yourself to show your true nature.”

“And why is that?”   
  
“I find there to be something quite appealing about truth.”   
  
“You delude yourself.” If anything, the truth’s become uncomfortable to Goro. Somehow, Yusuke makes it less so. 

He still doesn’t look up from his paper as he sketches, but his work seems to slow, even if only for a moment. His motion becomes more contemplative. “On the contrary, I think this is exactly what I wish to see. Is there not something wonderful about true emotion?” 

Goro can’t quite find it in himself to respond. Instead, he purses his lips. Something tells him the reaction only adds to Yusuke’s work.

They sit like that for hours, Yusuke silently working on his drawing, absorbed in his work. It feels as if something is being worn away the longer Goro sits like this. He’s unused to feeling seen, but Yusuke seems to be able to capture him every time.

Eventually, his fervent work comes to a stop. Goro takes this as a cue to get up, stretching slightly as he does so. 

Yusuke’s expression turns from neutrality to a satisfied smile.

“I’m sure you’re pleased with the result, then?” Goro can’t help but feel a sort of anxiety, a thought that comes back to haunt him - would there be anything worth dropping the act for, even if only for a moment?

Yusuke nods. “Quite. I find this to be one of my best pieces in some time.” Goro peers over at the canvas, feeling unease right before he sees it - 

\- and yet he finds himself lovingly rendered, no detail unnoticed. He isn’t smiling, but his expression seems almost serene, as compared to annoyed or ugly. It’s as close to Goro as he can picture himself - the  _ real  _ him, and not the act he’s managed to convince everyone else of.

It fits him, and the way Yusuke has captured him so accurately makes him feel things he didn’t expect. He tries his hardest to quash any sort of affection, but some of it remains regardless. He keeps it close, and chooses not to speak until he can hide it away a little more.

“Thank you for allowing me to do that. It was a great help, and you’re quite an intriguing subject to paint. However, I must be off now.” Yusuke begins to pack up his things rather quickly, moving on from one thing to the next as soon as the task is complete. 

“Of course. It was my pleasure.” Goro somehow finds himself feeling somewhat melancholy at the idea of parting.

Yusuke departs after that, and so does Goro. There’s no point in lingering, even if a part of himself he’d rather ignore makes him want to anyway. It’s not until Goro gets home, settled back into the cold comfort of his apartment, that he receives a text.   
  
“Could I ask to draw you again sometime?”


End file.
